Boys Basketball: Short-handed Jewish Community routed by New Community

Jewish Community senior David Dolgonosov tries to break through a New Community double team on Sunday at Westlake Community Center in Daly City. (Photo by Clarivel Fong)

By Josh Levine

DALY CITY – With two of its three leading scorers out with concussions, the Jewish Community boys basketball team got drubbed by visiting New Community Jewish of West Hills in a 63-28 non-league loss Sunday at Westlake Community Center.

New Community (12-5) had three players score in double figures, led by senior captains Josh Molami and Micah Getzug, who had 14 and 12 points, respectively. Junior Gabe Berger added 11 points and all but one player on the roster scored for the Jaguars from Southern California.

On Friday, Jewish Community senior captain Michael Kostukovsky and junior Amir Hessler collided so hard during a practice that both players sustained concussions. Hessler is expected to return to the starting lineup soon, but Kostukovsky will likely miss significant time.

“This game helped us today. We had to learn to play tough and I’m proud of the battle our guys put out there,” said Jewish Community head coach Tim Kjar. “We did the best we could and we need to learn to play without those two guys. Missing them definitely hurt us today.”

Jewish Community guard Boris Shkurko, one of six senior captain on the team, led the Wolves (8-5) with eight points. Normal reserve guard Arthur Guz also started and added five points.

“The playing time is good for them,” Kjar said of the players that got extra time due to the injuries to Hessler and Kostukovsky. “For some players on this team, they will gain confidence from facing a team like this. If New Community was in our league they would, for sure, win it. They’re a very athletic team and have a ton of speed.”

New Community used that speed to force nine first-quarter turnovers, mostly from a half-court defense that focused on double teaming any Wolves ball handler. The steals led to 14 fast break points and allowed the Jaguars to open up a 21-4 lead in the first quarter.

“That’s our normal defense that we usually run. We do everything off of intensity and we like to control the tempo from the beginning,” said New Community head coach Motti Meisels. “We stress always moving and trying to anticipate what they are going to do next. We have a quick team and our defense is designed around that.”

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